K-pop is Overrated
- sn pubs
- Jan 22
- 5 min read
Updated: Jan 28

K-pop. It has been one of the hottest sensations around the globe these days, shaking
industries and dominating the charts, while capturing the hearts of millions around the world, all
through song and dance. As an avid K-pop enjoyer , I am more than delighted that K-pop has
been globalized to such an extent, since I can now get hold of as many Straykids- I mean K-pop
merch as I can! (praise to e-commerce). However, Is K-pop really as glowy and morally bright as
it is seen, or are there harsher, darker truths hidden behind the scenes? Now, from here on, it
can start to get a bit controversial, but these are my honest opinions on k-pop, and how they
can be pretty detrimental to the innocent young minds of this society.

Firstly, I’m sure everyone knows K-pop is where they steal pretty faces from both the
girls and boys’ department to form eye-catching, tantalizing groups of visuals and talents, who
can not only dance and sing, but also SERVE FACE all at the same time. These people are the
creme da La creme, THe idols, the ones who stand on top, above the rest of us who can only
pay our way to see their faces...These people are glorified to be one of the best, as we shower
them with praises of gold. While albeit exaggerated, it is quite true. K-pop takes advantage of
recruiting young talents with top-notch visuals because humans appreciate beauty. Logically,
who would choose not to see something “beautiful” if they can? And now that there are groups
with awe-striking visuals, to say ‘not today!’ To them would be insanity. It’s like turning down an
offer to attend a visual buffet and then complaining about missing that opportunity. Now, if we
just merge beauty and talent together...They become irresistible. So then, what’s the problem if
K-pop promotes beauties who can sing and dance? Well, let’s first acknowledge that with every
head, comes a tail.
While K-pop can provide consumers entertainment, the unfair and ridiculously high
Korean beauty-standards, through the use of brain-washing technologies such as Instagram
and TikTok, can be ridiculously promoted to growing teens and youths who have zero survival
instincts. At the age of growth and maturity, right and wrong blurs and making a wise decision
sometimes prove to be incredibly difficult. With a widespread promotion of Korean beauty
standards set by beautiful K-pop idols, teens become entranced, and soon, the emotions of
admiration twists into the toxic yearning to become just like them. They start to look at their
faces, start to wonder why their eyes aren’t big enough, why their lashes aren’t long enough,
why their noses aren’t sharp enough... And their minds become captivated by the idea of
beauty. This results in an increase in the amount of makeup products used, a growing desire to
“fix” their features through plastic surgery and more attention spent on trying to “beautify”
themselves such that they can be as stunning as these idols. However, to wholly pin the blame
on youths’ desperation to become as maturely gorgeous on K-pop idols would be ridiculous, as
use of social media and its unfiltered contents promoting “glowing up” and other weird
beautifying trends can also result in the damaging effects towards youths’ mentality these days.
Even so, with the power of social media, a harmless idea of presenting k-pop idols onto the
global stage can be manipulated into this toxic inclination towards beauty in the youths, hence
leaving me adamant that these beauty standards promoted by k-pop idols are severely
damaging towards youths.

Next, money. As K-pop is served through different groups, their different “albums” each
represents a different “comeback”. This means that whenever a group is done with this concept of a certain album, they will rest for a while before returning with a different concept. For
instance, in 2023, Straykids had a “Maxident” album, in which their concept was about love.
Later that year, they returned with another album called “5-star”, presumingly about dragons and
modern city design. As seen, a “comeback” means a new album, with new songs and new
concepts. In order to profit off these albums, K-pop industries will sell an album containing a
photo book, photo cards, CD, extra goodies and a poster. However, these albums don’t come
cheap. As an avid K-pop Stan, I speak from personal experience, and maintaining such a
passion and trying to support my favourite group always results in financial deficits. Even so,
why do I keep buying their albums? It’s simple really, it’s because I want to support them. After
indulging in their countless content, I had formed an emotional bond with the members of the
group, and they became just like close friends, even though I have never seen them in real life.
This fuels a burning desire within me to buy their merchandise and support them, just because
of this psychological connection I have with them.
Honestly, this would not really be that big of a deal if we are able to control ourselves,
but we are talking about youths here. Youths, who again I repeat, rarely have a clear mind when
making decisions, and youths, who experience struggles and countless ups and downs while
navigating through their emotional teenage lives. When these youths experience these strong
feelings of affection towards a k-pop group, I am more than certain that they will splurge BIG in
order to chase that newfound interest of theirs. This results in an enormous amount of money
being wasted on new albums each year, lightsticks, different species of photo cards, concert
tickets etc. This can skewer their perception of money, leaving them unable to resist the
temptation of buying products and unable to differentiate between a “need” and a “want”, as well
as result in the negative consequence of overconsumption, which can negatively affect their
future, especially in an ever-changing world.

All in all, k-pop can be pretty detrimental to youths, whether physically or psychologically,
and its existence might just be more of a curse than a blessing. Even so, k-pop does indeed
bring about benefits towards youths, such as creativity and inspiration, relaxation amidst
tumultuous times and a sense of belonging. Hence, even though I know such issues are
present, I find joy and motivation from my ult group and honestly, I don’t think I will abandon
such a passion any time soon ( u see detrimental right???) but I Will see that I balance my life
properly with my passion such that its adverse effects avoid me like the plague. The end!!!
Yu Xuan
Secondary 4 Wisdom
2025
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